Deogyusan, a Picture Storybook

I'm finally publishing the best story from my visit to Singapore/Korea. I was in Singapore for a conference and was able to extend my layover in Korea and see people again for the first time in three years. Normally, I would post some photos on Facebook, and in the future, I will again. Wix doesn't have the best options for this.

I arrived in Korea at 6:15 AM local time, getting about 5 hours of sleep on the plane from Korea. As quickly as I could, I hopped on a train from the Airport to Seoul station, then hopped on a high speed train to Daejeon (above is the view leaving Seoul).

My plan was to get in a hike on the first day and spend the night at one of the shelters that are on top of many of the tallest Korean mountains. That involved a lot of transit to get from English speaking Seoul to the middle of the country, where I was much more of an anomoly. Here I am after dropping of my bags at Daejeon train station and getting over to the express buss station on the other side of town (I'd only visited Daejeon once before, but it helped.

Next I took a bus to Muju. The views kept getting prettier and the signs kept showing less English. My Korean mostly held up, which really helped because I had to rely on a middle aged man to tell me which bus to take and how much it would cost. Just before noon on a weekday, I was the youngest person on the local bus by around 60 years.

Here's the first small problem of the day. I got off the bus too early (it's complicated) and had to walk an extra hour or so to the national park itself. Not a big problem by itself, but it would prove costly.

I finally fade it to the park. I had already climbed the "big three" Korean mountains (the same "picture storybooks" are all on Facebook) and Deogyusan is cited as the fourth tallest, so that played a big role picking it out.

Of all the Korean parks I've visited, Deogyusan reminded me the most of Canada. It's also the furthest from the sea and I believe a bit colder than the rest of the peninsula.

When Korean's make a cairn, they don't go halfsies.

I followed a creek up to a temple for the first half of the hike. Very similar to the Rockies. At one point I ran into a park ranger and double checked that the shelter I was heading to, would be open. Unfortunately, my Korean only allowed me to say something like "(Name) Shelter exists?" This would prove an important mistake.

You can't really hike in Korea without seeing Buddhist temples. Korea is very roughly a third Buddhist, a third Christian, and a third irreligious. Gaudy crosses dominate the skyline of every city from the various churches. Buddhists own the mountains though.

I reached the temple that was my halfway mark. It was maybe 3:00, and I figured I had lots of time to make it to the top for supper. I ate a bit (was gifted a persimmon by some fellow hikers, although I didn't know what it was or how to eat it) and moved on.

The problem, though, is that the path went straight up from here. Stairs after stairs with three (3) rest areas with AEDs. I was expecting this, but I don't think I factored in how much slower I would be with five hours of sleep. I didn't have a headlamp and I did NOT want to get caught in the dark.

First it got snowy (it wasn't too cold, fortunately). And then it got dark. Fast. I had just left Singapore and somehow wasn't prepared for it getting so dark by 4:30 or so. Finally, I saw the last signpost and the lights of the shelter ahead. It was good and truly dark.

I come to the main door. I knock - no response. I knock louder and yell "Hello" in Korean - no response. There's a faint light inside, but the door is resolutely locked. I can see there's a sign on the door but it's in Korean and it's now so dark that I can't see the letters even if I could read it.

I go to the bathroom next (obviously all these pictures were taken the day after). There's a bright light in front and - blissfully - the door opens. At this point I'm assuming I might be sleeping in the bathroom. I have an airplane pillow in my bag, but it's cold, and I'm stressed. My phone is my only flashlight, and it's almost dead (and I can't make any calls here anyway). I find a knife and a key on the top of the door frame. I'm able to unlock the storage cupboard in the men's and there's an outlet in there where I can charge my phone. I lock the door and eat convenience store sandwich sitting between two urinals, listening to sounds outside. This was an adventure I didn't ask for.

After I've relaxed a bit and my phone has charged a little, I go back out with a flashlight, still thinking that I might run into a caretaker somewhere. The backdoor is also locked. There's an upstairs window I think of trying, and then I find my saving grace. A main floor window opens up in both pains, and I'm able to crawl through. I won't be sleeping in the bathroom tonight.

In the end, it was much better than the other shelters I've stayed in. Usually they're filled with old Korean men who snore like crazy, and they give you one blanket and no pillow. I had my own pillow, I took two blankets (rebel) and the noise was fine. I slept for a blessed 10 hours. There were other bonuses, too. I was able to plug in a heater by my bed, there was a charging station which juiced up my phone in no time, and a chart for sunrise and sunsets at each time of the year (In Korean, but I was able to decipher it). I set my watch in time to see the sunrise from the summit. I also paid (full price) by dropping some cash in the above box. I was later told that this was a suggestion box, but oh well.

This was the shelter in the morning. Apparently this is the only national park shelter that has to be booked in advance on the Korean website Naver. I'm not sure why it can't use the same reservation system as all the rest, but no crying over spilled milk I guess.

Now it's just pretty pictures of a mountain sunrise.

I put on "Circle of Life" for a bit.

It's always a bit depressing hiking ski hill mountains. I hiked the backside (and the hill wasn't open yet), but after all my effort it's weird to think how many people just do the whole thing by chairlift.

Looking North-Northeast

I believe the tall mounatins farthest away are part of Jirisan National Park. I've hiked it from left to right, and it includes the second tallest Korean peak and the tallest on the mainland.

I came down the ski hill side just for variety. They don't have these on the top of Lake Louise (Top of the chairlift on the right).

Looking up near the bottom of the hill. It's still super early, I listened to podcasts and dreamed of a real bed.

In the end, it was a great hike and a good story. It was what I had planned last minute in Korea when I was trying to sort things out... Mostly. But when I was shaking over my ham and cheese sandwich by the urinals, I profoundly felt like it was a story I could have gone without.